Punjab govt to launch double decker buses for tourists

A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-decker buses are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and many former European possessions an iconic example being the red London bus. Double-decker buses are also used in many other cities around the world.To boost tourism, the state government has decided to introduce five double-decker hop-on, hop-off buses in Amritsar.

The holy city of Amritsar is the most prominent tourist attraction in the state with a daily footfall of 8,000 tourists.As of now, except through private tour operators, the major places of interest are not connected by public or mass transportation systems.Punjab Tourism Minister Sohan Singh Thandal said that these buses would be operational during the daytime and tourists will be offered a single ticket to board the buses to visit the Golden Temple, Rambagh Gate, Rambagh Garden, Town Hall, Durgiana Mandir, Gobindgarh Fort, Heritage Village, War Memorial, Wagah Border and Ram Tirath Temple any number of times during the day.

Tourists can get down at these places and board the next available bus after exploring the tourist attraction. The tourists will have the flexibility to hop-off at any tourist destination in the circuit and after site seeing they can hop-on the next bus in the beat. The tourists need to buy just a single ticket for the whole day. Articulated buses are more efficient at stops (in combination with a Proof of Payment ticketing system), because they may have 4 to 6 (double-articulated) double-wide doors; that speeds up passenger flow considerably at a stop.

When as much seats per vehicle length is needed, double-deckers are at an advantage.